\u201cThe beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds \u2013 how many human aspirations are realized in their free, holiday-lives, and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!\u201d<\/p>\n
~John Burroughs<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
A pair of Pygmy Geese, male on the left and female on the right. The female usually flies first, so be ready!<\/p>\n
A male Pygmy Goose, he is quite vocal when agitated.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity.\u201d<\/p>\n ~Henri Bartier-Bresson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A male Pygmy Goose takes off like a \u201cpocket rocket\u201d.<\/p>\n A Squacco Heron in hunting mode.<\/p>\n \u201cTaking pictures is like savouring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.\u201d<\/p>\n ~Marc Riboud<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A Squacco Heron standing dead still waiting for prey to come within striking distance.<\/p>\n A Darter, also called the snake bird, because of its long supple neck.<\/p>\n \u201cA photograph is usually looked at \u2013 seldom looked into.\u201d<\/p>\n ~ Ansel Adams<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This snake birdwas drying its wings in the warm, late afternoon sun.<\/p>\n All over preening flexibility, with style.<\/p>\n A Great Egret hunting.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.\u201d<\/p>\n ~Aesop<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Small success for the Great Egret.<\/p>\n A Black-headed Heron shaking it up.<\/p>\n A Black Egret with frogs legs for breakfast.<\/p>\n Frog tossing for smooth swallowing.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first glance a photograph can inform us. At second glance it can reach us.\u201d<\/p>\n ~ Minor White<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Black Egret emerging from its hunting \u201cumbrella\u201d.<\/p>\n A pair of Red-billed Oxpeckers on the back of a buffalo bull.<\/p>\n A pair of Pied Kingfishers.<\/p>\n \u201cReaching a \u2018creative\u2019 state of mind thru positive action is considered preferable to waiting for \u2018inspiration\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n ~ Minor White<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A Pied Kingfisher hovering in hunt.<\/p>\n A Pied Kingfisher rearranging its catch.<\/p>\n A Pied Kingfisher subduing its breakfast.<\/p>\n A Woodland Kingfisher caught a Mantis while it was praying.<\/p>\n \u201cOne should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are.\u201d<\/p>\n ~ Minor White<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Billed for a Praying Mantis dance on a woodland stage.<\/p>\n A sleepy nocturnal Water Dikkop in mid-morning.<\/p>\n \u201cI only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.\u201d<\/p>\n ~John Muir<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Those big eyes are all the better for seeing you at night. You will never find the Water Dikkops far from the water\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n A Sacred Ibis beach combing.<\/p>\n Egyptian Goose bathing.<\/p>\n Making quite a splash.<\/p>\n Like water off a goose\u2019s back!<\/p>\n A Blacksmith Lapwing on a sortie to attack Jacana chicks on the adjacent water lily pads.<\/p>\n A Cattle Egret enjoying the late afternoon sun.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talk of communing with Nature, but \u2019tis with ourselves we commune\u2026 Nature furnishes the conditions \u2013 the solitude \u2013 and the soul furnishes the entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n ~John Burroughs<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Great Egret, well fed and watching the world go by.<\/p>\n A Cattle Egret taking in Chobe\u2019s view across the water from an overhanging branch.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sun shines not on us but in us.\u201d ~ John Muir<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Lilac-breasted Roller bewildered by so many dragonflies congregating above.<\/p>\n A pair of White-fronted Bee-eaters about to start excavating their nest in a limestone bank.<\/p>\n A Green-backed Heron, dead still, trying to camouflage itself in the late afternoon light.<\/p>\n A Hammerkop foraging along the river\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n Nesting time for this Hammerkop.<\/p>\n This Hammerkop was gathering bark for its \u201csuper nest\u201d.<\/p>\n A sleek Squacco Heron flying towards us.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to fly you have to give up everything that weighs you down\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Perfect glide lines.<\/p>\n A juvenile Allen\u2019s Gallenule.<\/p>\n A characteristic tail flick from this young Allen\u2019s Gallenule.<\/p>\n A Burchell\u2019s Coucal skulking in the long grass next to the river\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n Skulking success for this Burchell\u2019s Coucal.<\/p>\n \u201cOur ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.\u201d<\/p>\n ~Aldo Leopold<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Two cold Little Bee-eaters huddling together in the early morning light.<\/p>\n Avian gem sparkling in the early morning light.<\/p>\n Hungry White-throated Swallow chick begging for food.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/howieswildlifeimages.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/20170418-_d811343.jpg?w=545&h=311\" "\\"\\"")